Progressing cavity pump drives presently on the market have weaknesses with respect to the stuffing box, backspin retarder and the power transmission system. Oil producing companies need a pump drive which requires little or no maintenance, is very safe for operating personnel and minimizes the chances of product leakage and resultant environmental damage. When maintenance is required on the pump drive, it must be safe and very fast and easy to do.
Due to the abrasive sand particles present in crude oil and poor alignment between the wellhead and stuffing box, leakage of crude oil from the stuffing box is common in some applications. This costs oil companies money in service time, down time and environmental clean up. It is especially a problem in heavy crude oil wells in which the oil is often produced from semi-consolidated sand formations since loose sand is readily transported to the stuffing box by the viscosity of the crude oil. Costs associated with stuffing box failures are one of the highest maintenance costs on many wells.
Servicing of stuffing boxes is time consuming and difficult. Existing stuffing boxes are mounted below the drive head. Stuffing boxes are typically separate from the drive and are mounted in a wellhead frame such that they can be serviced from below the drive head without removing it. This necessitates mounting the drive head higher, constrains the design and still means a difficult service job. Drive heads with integral stuffing boxes mounted on the bottom of the drive head have more recently entered the market. In order to service the stuffing box, the drive must be removed which necessitates using a rig with two winch lines, one to support the drive and the other to hold the polished rod. This is more expensive and makes servicing the stuffing box even more difficult. As a result, these stuffing boxes are typically exchanged in the field and the original stuffing box is sent back to a service shop for repair-still unsatisfactory.
Due to the energy stored in wind up of the sucker rods used to drive the progressing cavity pump and the fluid column on the pump, each time a well shuts down a backspin retarder brake is required to slow the backspin shaft speed to a safe level and dissipate the energy. Because sheaves and belts are used to transmit power from the electric motor to the pump drive head on all existing equipment in the field, there is always the potential for the brake to fail and the sheaves to spin out of control. If sheaves turn fast enough, they will explode due to tensile stresses which result due to centrifugal forces. Exploding sheaves are very dangerous to operating personnel.